Federal Partners Continue Supporting Hurricane Ian Response

WASHINGTON -- President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. approved Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s request for a major disaster declaration this morning. FEMA has been authorized to provide individual assistance to survivors in nine counties: Charlotte, Collier and DeSoto, Hardees, Hillsboroughs, Lee, Manatees, Pinellas, Sarasota, Lee, Manatees, Pinellas, and Hillsborough. The federal funding is 100% for debris removal and emergency life-saving measures in these counties for 30 days. FEMA continues to monitor Ian’s path, as a second landfall could happen on the coast of Georgia and South Carolina.  

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will brief President Biden today on federal response efforts at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center. Criswell will visit Florida Friday to see the response efforts and ensure survivors have access to recovery resources. The federal government coordinated and prepositioned supplies, and more than 1,300 responders ahead of Ian’s landfall to ensure resources could get where they need to be as quickly as possible. Federal responders are working alongside nearly 5,000 Florida National Guard members and other state response and emergency managers.

The federal government deployed a Search and Rescue Coordination Group comprised of FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, Customs Border and Protection and the state of Florida to help coordinate rescue efforts with local officials.

Although Ian was downgraded by the National Hurricane Center to a tropical hurricane, extreme dangers remain, including a dangerous storm surge along the coasts in northeast Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. The week will be marked by widespread flooding in the region of northern Florida, southeastern Georgia, and South Carolina.

People should be aware of the risks that Ian continues to pose. Weather conditions will continue to be dangerous in areas further inland. Please be safe and listen to local emergency management officials.

• Stay off the roads. Emergency workers may be assisting people in flooded areas or cleaning up debris. If you are evacuated, you can help by staying off the roads.
• Prepare for power outages. Residents in Georgia and South Carolina should plan now for potential power outages. You can plan for batteries or other power sources to meet your power needs if the power goes out. You should use a generator with care. It should be kept outside, away from windows and doors, and out of reach of vents.   
• Avoid downed power or utility lines. They may be live with deadly voltage. Do not ignore them and immediately notify your utility company.
• Avoid floodwaters. Standing water can be charged from underground or downed electrical lines. Contaminates that can cause illness or sharp debris, wild or stray animal injuries, and other health problems. Flood waters are not safe to walk, swim, or drive through.

• Today, more than 32,000 personnel from mutual assistance power crews will begin to assess damages and make repairs. Additional crews are on standby in areas preparing for Ian’s landfall in Georgia and South Carolina.
• Florida has nearly 200 shelters that serve more than 10,000 people. The Florida Department of Emergency Management sent several hundred shelter support personnel to help counties that opened hurricane shelters for special needs.
• FEMA teams have already delivered 1.5 million liters and 1.1 million meals to Florida. Other water and food supplies will be delivered pending safe conditions post-storm impact. FEMA has secured an additional 6,000,000 liters of water, and 5.5 Million meals.
• The U.S. Coast Guard uses helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for immediate rescue and search operations. The Department of Defense owns more than 1,200 highwater vessels and 25 watercrafts that support search and rescue operations.
• FEMA activated a contract for medical support for paratransit and ambulance seats. All 300 National Disaster Medical System assets requested arrived in Florida, including 400 ambulances and 15 paratransit ambulances for the elderly. Four rotary aircraft were also available to evacuate medically fragile patients in nursing homes and other medical facilities.
• More than 2,000 federal employees support the response in the Southeast. FEMA has more that 3,200 reservist personnel who are available to support. Surge Capacity Force members, which number more than 7,500, are also available to deploy when necessary. To speed forward movement, the agency is creating a personnel mobilization centre.
• The State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee is home to Incident Management Teams, with additional teams in Miami or Atlanta. Mobile Emergency Response Support teams are also available in Tallahassee, Orlando, and Montgomery, Alabama, and Thomasville, Georgia to assist with any state coordination needs.
• Maxwell Air Force Base hosts four Mobile Communications Operation Vehicles, with an additional unit in Orlando. Florida is home to two Mobile Emergency Operations Vehicles (MEVs) and one Mobile Emergency Response Support Team.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared an emergency and sent a 38-person disaster medical aid team to Miami and two additional teams to Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. HHS also sent four pharmacists and four health and medical task force teams to Atlanta.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement No routine non-criminal immigration enforcement operations are conducted at evacuation sites or assistance centers like shelters or food banks. Officers will also be on guard against criminals trying to exploit the disruptions caused by the storm.

• Florida survivors who live in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties can apply for federal assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362) or by using the FEMA App. FEMA operators can provide the number for survivors who use a relay service such as a captioned telephone service, video relay service, or other services.
• Volunteer agencies are ready to help with feeding operations, including the American Red Cross and Florida Baptist, Salvation Army. FEMA and its partners can serve thousands of meals daily.
• Medically dependent residents of Florida who need electricity to operate medical equipment, transport services to evacuated due to a medical condition or need help getting medication during a disaster can register for assistance at FloridaDisaster.org/SNR.
• Visit Hurricane Ian | FEMA.gov for information and resources available for Florida residents affected by the storm. This page will be available in Creole and Simplified Chinese as well as Spanish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.